It took me a few days to finally muster the courage to listen to Michelle’s chat with Térèse Soukar Chehade on Truth in Historical Fiction. To be honest, I was wary because of the way I played with facts in my own book, Ilona Gets A Phone.
As a retired journalist writing in our post-truth world, where alternative facts gaslight swaths of the electorate, I started writing my novel with an obsession. I wanted my story not only to tell a great tale but also to give readers a short history of a small Central European land in a palatable form. Hungary has been in the news a lot lately, and the more I researched, the more I was stunned by the parallels that could be made between then and now.
As I edited draft after draft, it became obvious to me, though, that I was doing a decent job of writing a short history of the country. I was, however, doing a terrible hack of telling a great tale. I concluded that to maintain a strong narrative pace, I had to change some dates.
In the end, I was careful to point out all the discrepancies between historical fact and my fictional story in an author’s note.
Well, I sold my book to a small indie publisher who deleted the author’s note, pointing out that it is entirely a work of fiction and the reader didn’t need reminding of that. Along the editing process, a few more historical facts sacrificed themselves in the service of a stronger story. But I still worried. I wanted my book to be read in Hungary and had nightmares that it would be roundly criticized for its historical inaccuracies.
And so, I took my time before listening to that chat between Michelle and Térèse on Truth in Historical Fiction. I even suffered through a sleepless night.
I was relieved, then, when Michelle started the podcast by reminding listeners that fiction is the stuff of dragons, followed by Térèse expressing exactly my sentiment: Truth as it applies in historical fiction is all about staying close to the facts but being honest with the sentiment.
That’s what I tried to do with Ilona Gets A Phone, too. The book is not entirely accurate, but more importantly, it rings true to the emotions and feelings of my characters as they experienced the tumultuous events of the 20th century. Readers who experienced Hungary during those times, including one Hungarian reviewer, agree.
That’s what matters ultimately. As with Térèse’s book, set in Lebanon during its civil war, there isn’t one set of facts. Living through hard times, Térèse said, can warp a person’s sense of reality. So in the case of historical fiction, what’s ultimately important is conveying honesty about how those events felt to the characters as they experienced them.
Once again, thank you, Michelle, for a great listen. Can’t wait to catch up on the rest of this week.
So glad you found this helpful! There are a lot of different ways of approaching this problem, and lots of difference perspectives. I think as long as you're trying to produce something honest, which you obviously are trying to do, then you're doing your best.
It took me a few days to finally muster the courage to listen to Michelle’s chat with Térèse Soukar Chehade on Truth in Historical Fiction. To be honest, I was wary because of the way I played with facts in my own book, Ilona Gets A Phone.
As a retired journalist writing in our post-truth world, where alternative facts gaslight swaths of the electorate, I started writing my novel with an obsession. I wanted my story not only to tell a great tale but also to give readers a short history of a small Central European land in a palatable form. Hungary has been in the news a lot lately, and the more I researched, the more I was stunned by the parallels that could be made between then and now.
As I edited draft after draft, it became obvious to me, though, that I was doing a decent job of writing a short history of the country. I was, however, doing a terrible hack of telling a great tale. I concluded that to maintain a strong narrative pace, I had to change some dates.
In the end, I was careful to point out all the discrepancies between historical fact and my fictional story in an author’s note.
Well, I sold my book to a small indie publisher who deleted the author’s note, pointing out that it is entirely a work of fiction and the reader didn’t need reminding of that. Along the editing process, a few more historical facts sacrificed themselves in the service of a stronger story. But I still worried. I wanted my book to be read in Hungary and had nightmares that it would be roundly criticized for its historical inaccuracies.
And so, I took my time before listening to that chat between Michelle and Térèse on Truth in Historical Fiction. I even suffered through a sleepless night.
I was relieved, then, when Michelle started the podcast by reminding listeners that fiction is the stuff of dragons, followed by Térèse expressing exactly my sentiment: Truth as it applies in historical fiction is all about staying close to the facts but being honest with the sentiment.
That’s what I tried to do with Ilona Gets A Phone, too. The book is not entirely accurate, but more importantly, it rings true to the emotions and feelings of my characters as they experienced the tumultuous events of the 20th century. Readers who experienced Hungary during those times, including one Hungarian reviewer, agree.
That’s what matters ultimately. As with Térèse’s book, set in Lebanon during its civil war, there isn’t one set of facts. Living through hard times, Térèse said, can warp a person’s sense of reality. So in the case of historical fiction, what’s ultimately important is conveying honesty about how those events felt to the characters as they experienced them.
Once again, thank you, Michelle, for a great listen. Can’t wait to catch up on the rest of this week.
So glad you found this helpful! There are a lot of different ways of approaching this problem, and lots of difference perspectives. I think as long as you're trying to produce something honest, which you obviously are trying to do, then you're doing your best.